Sunday, September 10, 2023

Theme:

Jesus understood the importance of community and how conflict could tear apart the fabric of community. Jesus provides a formula for resolving conflict in the community.

Reflections:

The heart of the Kingdom Jesus was creating was community. The Kingdom could not survive without the witness of the community or the church. So, this living breathing organism Jesus called into being must be united in God’s purpose if God’s Kingdom was to grow and thrive on earth. Jesus was not naïve and understood that conflict was going to arise and so he gave the community a formula for how to resolve differences. Jesus was adamant about the health of the community that he challenges the community to treat the person as an outsider if they continue to cause conflict. This may sound harsh, but the health of the community was that important to Jesus.

Jesus does not intend on us to all think the same way, but we must be united in purpose, imitating Christ and sharing Christ love in all we do. We must care for one another, love one another, and not allow one another to go without. When conflict arises and challenges the prime directive, you must deal with it quickly. Jesus knew conflict was inevitable so that is why he instructs us to deal with it a loving manner. We must not avoid conflict and be willing to allow our hearts and the hearts of others to be shaped and formed when we enter into honest discussion and confession. So, we must be willing to do the hard work of conflict resolution which means we have to be honest with ourselves. We must hold the needs of the community first over our needs. We must be willing to compromise in love. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.

Questions:

1. Why do we avoid conflict? Why is it so hard to address conflict?
2. Why does Jesus need a unified church in the world? What damage does a church in conflict do for the mission of Jesus?
3. How hard is compromise?
4. What does denying conflict do for our health and for the community’s health?